“You will be CM someday,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar on Thursday.
On December 5, Ajit Pawar, who has been vocal about his chief ministerial ambitions, became the deputy CM of Maharashtra for the sixth time.
Fadnavis made the remark during the ongoing Winter Session of the Maharashtra state legislature in Nagpur. The CM was speaking at the legislative assembly on the motion of thanks to the governor for his joint address to both Houses of the state legislature.
Fadnavis also said that Ajit Pawar will work in the morning since he is an early riser, while stating that he and his deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde would work 24/7 in shifts.
“Ajit Pawar will work in the morning since he is an early riser. I am on duty from 12 noon to midnight while throughout the night… you all know who,” Fadnavis said, referring to Shinde, who is known to work till late hours.
“You are called ‘permanent deputy CM’… but my wishes are with you… you will be the CM someday,” said Fadnavis.
Ajit Pawar joined the BJP-led Mahayuti government in 2023, after the split in Sharad Pawar-founded Nationalist Congress Party.
In the ensuing battle for the party name and its ‘clock’ symbol, his faction got both. His uncle and veteran politician Sharad Pawar now heads NCP (SP), an ally of the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) under the banner of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Earlier this week, 39 ministers took oath at Nagpur’s Raj Bhavan. As many as 33 MLAs took oath as cabinet ministers and six as ministers of state (MoS). However, portfolio allocation in the Mahayuti government is yet to take place.
The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, secured a landslide victory in the November 20 assembly polls by winning 230 seats in the 288-member House.
